Penn State Crushes Cincinnati Nittany Lions Pull Away In 2nd Half

November 10, 1985|By Ray Parrillo, KNT News Service

CINCINNATI — They teased Cincinnati for a while, dangling baubles in front of the decided underdogs and daring them to grab a few.

But Cincinnati seemed a little too bashful and a little too incompetent to accept gifts from the Nittany Lions, so Penn State simply went ahead and crushed the Bearcats, 31-10, Saturday before 33,528 fans at Riverfront Stadium.

Penn State's victory, coupled with Florida's loss to Georgia, is expected to make the Nittany Lions No. 1 in both wire-service polls going into next week's game against revitalized Notre Dame at Beaver Stadium.

Coming into Saturday's action Penn State was ranked on top by United Press International, and Florida was No. 1 in the Associated Press poll.

The Nittany Lions (9-0) coughed up the ball three times in the first half, and their offense spent the first 28 minutes of the game on idle. But the Bearcats (5-5) cashed in those turnovers for only three points, then watched as Penn State showed them how you go about taking advantage of mistakes.

Once again, it was Penn State's remarkable ability to make its opponents pay dearly for their mistakes that solidified the win.

''They did a good job on us in the first half,'' Penn State Coach Joe Paterno said, ''and we didn't do anything right offensively. But in the second half, when we had to be tougher and more aggressive, we were. Plus, they gave us a couple of plays that helped.''

Penn State, which led 14-10 at halftime, stretched its lead to 31-10 over a five-minute stretch on a 17-yard field goal by Massimo Mancaand short touchdown runs by D.J. Dozier and backup quarterback Matt Knizner.

Those two touchdowns came courtesy of the defense, which forced Cincinnati into its fourth and fifth turnovers of the game.

As they did last week against Boston College, Tim Johnson and Mike Russo forced a critical turnover. This time, Johnson jarred the ball loose from Bearcats running back Reggie Taylor (125 yards on 29 carries) late in the third quarter, and Russo recovered on the Cincinnati 30.

At that point, Knizner entered the game, because John Shaffer had suffered a mild concussion.

''I got hit in the head on a rollout and briefly lost my vision,'' said Shaffer, who completed only 7 of 20 passes and twice was intercepted. ''The doctor told me it was a concussion.''

Knizner quickly grabbed the chance. He completed his first two passes before Dozier went off tackle from 2 yards out to make it 24-10. On the previous play, Dozier had moved into sixth place, ahead of Charlie Pittman, on Penn State's all-time rushing list, with a 5-yard run. The junior tailback finished the game with 112 yards on 20 carries, the 10th 100-yard game of his career, in which he has gained 2,284 yards.

Clearly shaken, Cincinnati again turned the ball over. Lance Hamilton jarred the ball loose from receiver Jason Stargel, the ball squirting into the air like a seed from a grape. Mike Zordich grabbed the ball at the Cincinnati 11, and Knizner leaped into the end zone from the 1 to give Penn State a 14-10 lead.